Sponsors

The Naval Academy yesterday announced it will change its application for sponsors, Annapolis-area residents who host midshipmen in their homes, after complaints from the local chapter of the NAACP that it encouraged racial division. No longer will the online form ask potential sponsors to state racial and religious preferences they have for the midshipmen who come to them for home-cooked food, a ride to the mall or a couch to crash on. Sponsors can still opt for a midshipman of a particular gender or for one involved in a particular activity.

Despite a pledge to keep his inaugural from appearing too corporate, Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is actively seeking donations from companies of up to $20,000 to pay for three days of celebration but has yet to establish prices for supporters of more modest means. The Ehrlich-Steele Inaugural Committee has sent solicitations to hundreds of Maryland companies, asking them to sponsor parties, concerts, a reception at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and a ball at the Baltimore Convention Center.

The sails say it all. Ericsson, Pirates of the Caribbean, Brasil, Brunel, ABN AMRO, movistar. And if you don't know what Brunel, ABN AMRO and movistar are, you'll likely learn they represent a Dutch recruiting and consulting company, an international bank and a Spanish mobile phone operator, respectively, by the end of Volvo Ocean Race's Baltimore and Annapolis stopover. They're all corporate sponsors of the eight-month regatta that is here through May 7 and provides one of sailing's most elite prizes.

At its beginning in 1973, the Whitbread Round the World Race was sailed by 17 teams of sportsmen, professional yacht racers, soldiers and sailors in yachts as large as 80 feet and as small as 32.Compared to transoceanic racing today, it was a simple affair. Piloting was by dead reckoning or celestial navigation. Weather forecasts were made by what the eye could see, the nose could smell and the body could feel in the changing surface of the ocean - supplemented, of course, by whatever information might be gleaned from the radios aboard.

The Sun will sponsor a conference on personal finance Saturday at the Baltimore Convention Center.Tammany Buckwalter, events coordinator, said the daylong conference will feature leading authorities on personal finance and money management.Among them are Don Phillips, chief executive officer of Morningstar Inc., publisher of mutual funds ratings and other financial information; Tom Gardner, one of the creators of the online financial service the Motley Fool; Jean Sherman Chatzky, editor at large of Money magazine and a contributor to NBC's "Today Show"; and Kenneth S. Apfel, Social Security commissioner.

I've discovered a sound even worse than nails dragging across chalkboard. It's the sound of journalists whining about their fallen "icon," David Brinkley.Enough already!Some journalists can't stop moaning about how the ex-anchorman tarnished his fine reputation by becoming a pitchman for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), the agribusiness firm and corporate welfare king that sponsored "This Week With David Brinkley" from its launch in 1981.The problem with all the noise about Brinkley's role as a corporate huckster is that these same mainstream journalists are usually silent over a much bigger issue: the power of TV sponsors to shape - and limit - debate.

The Carroll County Sports Complex is no PSINet Stadium, but local officials are hoping to drum up funds for the park with new advertising deals and corporate sponsors.Unlike in the $105.5 million deal between the Ravens and PSINet, businesses here won't be allowed to change the complex's name. But they will be able to hang banners at the five baseball and two soccer fields, sell their wares at the park and advertise on a new scrolling electronic sign."We've been looking for ways to operate the sports complex in a self-sustaining manner since it opened eight years ago," said Jeff Degitz, chief of the county's Bureau of Recreation.

Prospects for gay marriage in Maryland are in jeopardy after several delegates said Tuesday that they are no longer certain they support it. Legislation to recognize same-sex marriage, which sailed to relatively smooth passage last week in the state Senate, hit unexpected turbulence in a key House committee on Tuesday, when two of the bill's co-sponsors staged a walkout rather than vote in favor of it. House leaders spoke at length to the...

The Naval Academy yesterday announced it will change its application for sponsors, Annapolis-area residents who host midshipmen in their homes, after complaints from the local chapter of the NAACP that it encouraged racial division. No longer will the online form ask potential sponsors to state racial and religious preferences they have for the midshipmen who come to them for home-cooked food, a ride to the mall or a couch to crash on. Sponsors can still opt for a midshipman of a particular gender or for one involved in a particular activity.

DOVER, Del. - Stock car racing's roots are deep in the United States. Just how deep is clear as plans are made to honor and help the victims of last week's terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Going into this weekend's race at Dover Downs International Speedway, NASCAR officials report pledges of more than $27 million have been made by drivers, sponsors and manufacturers participating in the sport. Some teams and sponsors are still deciding on plans. Pfizer, sponsor of Mark Martin's Ford, has donated $15 million to the recovery fund in New York City.